Guess

Who wrote this :

I don't like to write about the Middle East. I don't even like to think about it. It's a dismaying quagmire of blind religious hatred and irrational Dark Ages thinking on all sides, impervious to logic or reason, perhaps the greatest imponderable stupidity in humankind's history. I give a slight moral advantage to the Israelis because at least they aren't exporting terrorism and the slaughter of innocents, as many of the Islamic countries in the area routinely do. They'll probably all kill themselves one day in a nuclear confrontation. (How's that for optimism?) I just hope they don't take the rest of the world down with them. This article in the New York Times is the latest example of the terminal sickness that afflicts the whole region: Palestinians Give U.N. Racism Talks a Mixed Message.

Or this :

Bush's speech last night was just pathetic. Obviously rehearsed, not a word unscripted, totally devoid of anything real or spontaneous. Very disappointing. I really hope he can find it in himself to rise to the challenge and act courageously, for once in his spoiled rich party boy life.

Answers here.

Some people learn from experience. Some people do indeed, rise to the challenge. Some don't.